Dangers in Romance
by Jakia
Summary: Zuko joins the gaang. Katara is less than pleased. Everyone else is amused. [zutara drabbleseries. Goes along with Good to be Toph. Will eventually be connected, but I'm too lazy right now. title subject to change]
1. On Appa

**Summary:** Zuko joins the gaang. Katara is less than pleased. Everyone else is general amused. zutara drabble series post season 2

**A/N:** You know that fic I wrote? The one entitled "Good to be Toph"? Well, I wasn't planning on expanding it...

And then I did.

Crap.

You'll see how this relates to Good to be Toph later on. For now, enjoy.

* * *

"I don't like him," Katara grumbled for the seventy-eighth time that hour. "And I think this is a stupid plan, Aang."

"I know." Aang sighed, wishing she would just get over it, or at least find someone else to complain to. "But the comet arrives soon, and he's the only firebender for miles who's willing teach me."

Katara turned and glared at said firebender; Zuko sank lower into his seat, wishing he had the ability to become invisible. "He's not even a master firebender! I don't see how he can help us."

Zuko opened his mouth to retort that, while he _technically_ wasn't a master Firebender, he was damn close to becoming one.

However, as soon as he opened his mouth, Katara sent him this _look_--one that would have caused weaker men than Zuko to shrink back in fear or run crying to their mothers, it was so awful. That _look_ promised Zuko that there was going to be hell to pay at the hands of a master waterbender, should he speak up against what Katara was saying. Not to mention it would bring excruciating pain and possibly frozen male-parts to Zuko's near-future.

Instead, he gulped, and thought his pride probably wasn't worth that much, anyway.

"He knows more about firebending than the rest of us do." Aang argued, and hoped she would drop the subject, at least while they were still flying. "Besides, where do you think we're going to find another firebending teacher in a few weeks? Just give it a break, Katara."

Defeated momentarily, Katara huffed and sat back down on Appa. She crossed her arms angrily and began to sulk. When she was quite sure that Aang had gone back to steering Appa and wasn't listening anymore, she leaned over towards Zuko and glared.

"I still don't like you." She spat out before storming away to the complete opposite side of Appa's saddle in a completely over-dramatic fashion.

Zuko bit his lip nervously, and looked around at his other companions. Katara was sitting across from him, steadily ignoring him, and probably planning how to get rid of him without Aang noticing. To his left was Toph, grinning like a madwoman, no doubt planning something absolutely awful and very unlikely to end in his favor. To his right sat Sokka, who just so happened to be sharpening a conveniently deadly knife whilst glaring holes at Zuko's head.

The airbender, Zuko's only potential ally, was currently sitting on Appa's head, farthest away and unlikely to hear Zuko scream for help, should their 'team' decide they didn't really need a firebender all that much, anyway.

Zuko gulped louder, and sank deeper into Appa's saddle. While he was at least partially thankful that the lemur (who had decided that his head seemed like a good place to take a nap,) liked him, even if no one else in their little team did, it did little to inspire much faith in the boy. When he thought it was at least somewhat safe, he closed his eyes and prayed to Agni that he wouldn't die within the next few second.

Mostly, though, he wished his mother were here right now. He had a feeling he was going to need some really good coddling, or at least a cheap therapist, if he planned on staying with this group for very long.

* * *

XXX  
END

I'll update probably in less than an hour, if you're lucky.

jak


	2. Like

More. Yay.

* * *

The world was ending, Aang decided. Up was down, left was right, and somehow Sokka was being the mature one for once.

"Zuko's not that bad," the older boy noted, and Aang felt the universe explode some place else. "He's really not. He's just sort of clueless and kinda dorky, but it's funny, not, well, _evil_."

Not to mention, Zuko was completely _hopeless_ when it came to fishing or hunting, and watching Zuko fail at the things Sokka excelled at always made him feel rather warm and fuzzy inside. By some miracle, the two boys were even able to have a semi-friendly discussion the other day, about which were better weapons, swords or boomerangs. Mostly though, Sokka thought it was kind of nice having another guy around, one who, you know, wasn't a monk, ate meat, and could appreciate weapons and other men-things, even if he was a dirty, semi-evil firebender.

"I don't know what Katara's problem is." Sokka confessed, shrugging lightly.

Therein lied the problem: _No_ _one_ knew what Katara's problem with Zuko was. Not even Zuko, though Toph immediately called him a lying douchebag soon after he said that, but no one had given it much thought.

"I like him." Toph admitted, butting in to the conversation. It was the truth; Toph _did_ like Zuko. Not in the way other girls liked boys, but in a platonic, sibling-ish sort of way. He was just so much fun to _mess _with. Sokka was right: Zuko was completely clueless, and Toph loved it. Already, she had at least six nicknames for the newest member of their gang, and if no one stopped her, she would probably have more nicknames for Zuko alone than for all the others combined.

"I know," Aang nodded. "I like him too."

Well, he liked him most days. Ask him again one morning when Zuko was dragging his butt up to meditate at sunrise and he might say something completely different. But for the most part he liked Zuko.

And a sort of guilty part of him admitted that he liked the fact that Katara _didn't_ like Zuko; while he was completely and utterly sure there was no romantic inkling between Zuko and Katara at all, they did spend like, ten whole minutes alone together in Bai Sing Sei. Who knew what could have happened in those ten minutes? --And she had given Zuko that _look,_ the one that made Aang question if there had been a disturbance in the force, right before they left…It made Aang's insides churn just _thinking_ about it.

But no: Katara hated Zuko, and while Zuko was trying to be nice to Katara, she went out of her way to be mean to him, and, well, Zuko had his _pride_, after all.

"Guys?" Toph asked quietly. "Do you think we should do something about this? They are our friends…Shouldn't we try to get them to _like_ each other or something?"

Sokka and Aang shared a look; while they did both like Zuko well enough, he was, of course, _Zuko_. And even though Katara was being mean to him and yelled at him a lot, he was, needless to say, _Zuko_. He did tie her to a tree once, after all; Katara was completely justified in the boys' opinion.

Besides, there was something about that _word_ that made the boys' insides feel funny. Maybe it was just the way Toph had said it, but there was something about the word _like,_ the many, many implications that the word could have, that made Sokka and Aang hope Katara hated Zuko for the rest of their lives, even if it was slightly unreasonable.

"Nah." Sokka shrugged. "She'll get over it eventually."

And the gang went on with the rest of their lives without giving it another thought.

* * *

END 


	3. Necklace Remix

Um, zutara interaction. Hurray!

* * *

Katara was _not_ having a very good day, thank you very much. Of course, if you were traveling around on a ten-ton bison with the world's last hope while trying to dodge evil firebenders and/or bounty hunters, you'd be inclined to think that you'd be entitled to a few bad days, too.

Unfortunately, Katara's bad day seemed to only be getting worse. For one, she had overslept, and none of her 'teammates' had bothered to wake her. By the time she had rolled out of bed, it had been almost noon. And because she hadn't been awake to tell them, "You know, we really ought to leave soon. Why don't you get dressed and help take the camp down?" –it hadn't happened. In fact, when she _did_ finally get up, there were dirty dishes absolutely everywhere, and Sokka and Aang were in their underwear, playing cards.

To make matters worse, Zuko's psychobitch sister and her posse showed up three minutes later. While it did her heart good to see Aang and Sokka have to fight in their underwear because they were too lazy to get dressed and ready earlier, it meant that they had to leave quickly, and in the busy process of holding people off and fighting at the same time, they had managed to leave behind a few precious and irreplaceable items.

Namely, her mother's necklace.

_Again_.

It hadn't helped, of course, that today was also the anniversary of her mother's death, and here she had gone and lost her necklace.

_Again._

(She vowed, though, that if she ever got it back, that thing was going to be superglued to her neck, and was _never coming off_.)

She had cried. She had search. She practically tore Appa apart looking for it. She made them go back. She searched some more. She cried. She cried _again_.

But it was no use. Her necklace, her only reminder of her mother, was gone.

"_There_ you are." Came the last voice she wanted to hear at the moment behind her. "I've been looking all day for you."

"Zuko." She chocked back her tears. "Go away. I don't want to talk to you."

Behind her, he bit his lip. "But, I found—"

"I SAID GO AWAY!" She screamed, and buried her head in her knees.

He blinked softly. "Are you _crying--_?"

She sobbed harder. "Just go away Zuko! I don't want to talk to you right now!"

He took a step back. She was really, really upset this time. In fact, if he didn't leave, she would probably injure him where it really, really hurt.

Better make this quick, then:

"I found your necklace." He whispered, barely loud enough for her to hear. She jumped up so fast he wondered for a moment if she didn't fly.

"You did?!" She cried, her face flushed with gratitude. "Where is it? Where did you find it? How long ago—"

"_Stop_." He ordered the ecstatic girl before him. "Breathe."

She complied, with mild annoyance. As soon as she did, however, he pulled out of his pocket the very thing she had spent the day looking for.

"The clasp was broken. I fixed it for you." He whispered softly. He gently placed his hands around her neck, the blue thread in his fingers, tying the necklace back to its proper place.

Her eyes swelled with tears as the familiar weight returned. She closed her eyes and placed her hand over the trinket softly. "Zuko…Thank you."

It was the closest he had been to her since Bai Sing Sei. He could almost feel her heartbeat, they were so close. "Oh, uh, your welcome." He said quietly, wishing his face wasn't so red.

"It belonged to your mother, didn't it?" He asked, remembering what she had told him so long ago. "My mother is gone, too. I figured you'd probably want it back, so…"

She smiled at him. "I appreciate it, Zuko."

Then she stepped closer.

He stepped back. And then back again, for good measure, until he was up against a tree.

She leaned in even closer, until Zuko swore their noses were almost touching and if he breathed deep enough, his heart would touch hers.

"Just so you know," She whispered softly against his ear, and he had to bite back the urge to moan. "I still don't like you."

She then kissed his cheek and ran wildly in the opposite direction, leaving Zuko standing there with his hand on his wondering what the hell just happened.

Girls, it seemed to him, certainly were crazy, no matter where they were from.

* * *

XXX  
END 


	4. Liar, Liar, Liar

More. Yayz.

* * *

The greatest part about being a blind earthbender, Toph had decided a long time ago, was the ability to tell when someone was lying or not. She didn't always catch it the first time, but, given the chance, she would eventually figure out who was lying.

Katara was no exception.

"I don't like him." She said disgustedly, as she'd done every single day since Zuko joined their group.

There it was. Toph blinked suspiciously. The racing heartbeat. The unsteady breathing.

Other people might not have noticed it, but this was Toph. She noticed _everything_.

"Wait," she said, not quite believing what was happening. "Say that again."

Everyone stared at the blind girl incredibly before realizing it was doing them no good. "Um, I don't like him?" Katara repeated, very confused about what was going on.

There it was _again_. "One more time."

"I don't like…Zuko?"

Oh, this was _classic_! The stuff Toph lived for, right here, right now! Katara did _not,_ would you believe it? --dislike Zuko! In fact, she _liked_ him. Her heartbeat proved it.

She couldn't help it—she started cackling evilly.

The others stared.

"She can be so _weird_ sometimes." Aang muttered darkly.

No one disagreed.

* * *

END

Toph is so much fun.


	5. In which Zuko falls in love

* * *

_There_ it was again. The unsettling feeling in his stomach. The tight, clenching-in-a-good-sorta-way knot that he couldn't get rid of. Katara was _smiling_, and—

There it was again. That God-awful feeling.

Okay. She turned her head. He felt momentarily better, at least. Minus that dark, empty feeling that had replaced the butterfly-induced vomit feeling he'd been experiencing earlier.

…Did he just say 'butterfly'?

Oh spirits, she _laughing._

His palms started to sweat. His face colored. He began to feel extremely dizzy, lightheaded almost.

_Perhaps I'm sick?_ He wondered, and hoped he didn't vomit all over Appa. That would be nasty, and Sokka would make him clean it up.

Suddenly, he felt a small hand touch his. "Zuko, are you okay?" _Katara_, of all people, asked. A bolt of lighting surged through his body at the contact. In spite of the electric shock it sent throughout his body, it also made him feel warm and gooey, as though his insides had melted when the lighting when through.

"I'm fine," he said, and gave her small smile.

She smiled back, and his insides felt all wishy-washy, ooey-gooey, tip-tumbly again.

_Spirits, I hope I'm sick._ He thought darkly, before leaning over and puking all over the front of Katara's dress.

* * *

END 5 

A/N: Hai guys. Sorry it's been a while. AWS, you know. (Lord, please give us good stuff at Comic-con to hold us over…)

jak


	6. In which Katara dreams

That night, Katara had a very strange dream.

She had dreamed she was on Appa again, and that Zuko didn't look well, like he had earlier. When she touched his hand (a friendly, friendish, friend-like gesture), sparks flew throughout her body.

He turned and looked at her. Rather than puking on her, though, in her dream, he _kissed_ her, of all the crazy things she could have dreamed about!

What was crazier, she _enjoyed_ it.

In her dream.

Because it didn't actually happen in real life.

Just a dream.

Just a crazy, crazy dream.

Full of kissing.

_Kissing_ Zuko.

Dream.

--Oh, it had been nice, in her dream. It was hot and passionate, and in her dream she had _liked_ the feel of him touching her, of her touching him, of them,

* * *

When she woke up, she felt all hot and sticky, dirty, as though she had committed some horrible, sinful act, dreaming of kissing. When she got up, her face was red and Zuko was sitting in front of her, meditating. She threw him the meanest, ugliest look she could come up with so early in the morning as she stomped past him to take a bath.

"I hate you." She said disgustedly, as though it was entirely Zuko's fault she had dreamed such a thing.

_That_ time, she really meant it.


	7. In which Aang is the root of all evil

Now that Zuko felt better (although he still felt queasy whenever Katara was around, at least now it was controllable) he decided he was going to make it up to Katara. He did ruin her dress, after all, and as a Prince it was his royal duty to replace it.

--Only, there was nothing to replace it _with._ They hadn't stopped at a village for weeks, and it wasn't like he could pull a dress out of thin air.

So he decided to go with the next best thing: flowers!

Girls liked flowers.

…Didn't they?

_No no, don't be stupid Zuko, of course girls like flowers!_ He mentally berated himself. Oh spirits, he was sweating again—better get this over with quickly, then.

"Katara?" He hollered out, wiping the sweat off of his brow. "Where are you?"

Suddenly, he saw her as she turned around. A soft breeze flew by and gently caresses her hair. For some reason, her eyes seemed bigger, bluer. The sunlight seemed to filter in the trees, highlighting only Katara, and—

"—Zuko?" She said quietly, a confused look on her face.

He forgot what he was going to say.

"I—uh, I—Katara, um…"

"Oh, flowers!" She said cheerily. "Are those for me?"

"No!" Wrong answer. "I mean, yes! I mean—Here." He placed them in her hands, his face as red as a tomato.

Then the worst thing in the entire world that could possibly happen at that moment happened:

The flowers burst into flames.

Katara dropped them in shock. "What in the--? ZUKO!" She screamed, righteous fury spilling out of her like a volcano. "I can't believe—stupid—GAA!"

Zuko felt quite like screaming himself. "I didn't do it!" He yelled back, unsure of whether he actually set them on fire or not.

"THEN WHO DID, IDIOT? YOU'RE THE ONLY FIREBENDER AROUND HERE!"

He couldn't argue with that logic. "Well, I didn't _mean_ to—wait, Katara, I'm sorry!"

But it was too late; she had already stormed off, her hands on her hips, complaining loudly about moronic firebenders who set flowers on fire.

Zuko felt terrible. How could something like that happen? That was the absolute worse thing that could have happened at that moment.

Suddenly, Aang barreled out of the bushes, colliding roughly with Zuko's stomach.

"Oof!" Zuko grumbled, shoving the airbender off of him. "What's wrong with you?"

The boy's large gray eyes looked at him peculiarly. "Oh, hey Zuko. Er, nothing has just, uh, randomly set on fire over here, um, has it?"

If looks could kill, Aang would be on the floor, dead and sliced up into a thousand little pieces.

As it was, the boy was slightly ignorant of that fact, and continued talking cheekily. "Because I was practicing that py—pys—pyrokinesis move you were telling me about. You know, the one you said you still couldn't do very well but Azula mastered in one day? Well, I was practicing that move, but then Sokka threw something at me, and I kinda lost my concentration and I think I accidentally set something on fire over _here_, but I'm not sure." He then looked up and gazed around the area. "Er, was that Katara I heard a second ago?"

Zuko, his blood boiling and his rage simmering, simply could not stand it anymore.

He punched Aang square in the nose.

XXX

END

More soon. College is awesome.

jak


	8. In which Katara realizes something

"You're a jerk." Katara said angrily, placing a pack of ice on poor Aang's nose. "In fact, you're more than a jerk. You're an asshole."

Zuko flinched. "I said I'm sorry!" He said, but didn't really mean.

Katara glared at him. "You are not. In fact, I hope Aang kicks you out because of this. It's not like we need you anymore."

The comment stung. Zuko hadn't really thought of it, but they really _didn't_ need him anymore. Aang had mastered firebending well beyond whatever Zuko could teach him, and it wasn't like he had been everyone's favorite to begin with.

"Ids okay, Kataba." Aang muttered through his broken nose, secretly _loving_ the attention Katara was flourishing on him. "I forgib yu."

Katara glared at Zuko harder. "You're lucky Aang is so nice. I would have kicked you out a long time ago."

She turned her attention back to Aang. "If you need any more ice, let me know. Sorry I can't heal broken bones."

"I's okab." Aang smiled thoughtfully.

She smiled back at him kindly, before turning around and storming off to think about how much she hated Zuko.

Zuko suppressed the notion to break Aang's nose again.

* * *

Sokka plopped down next to her gracelessly. "So, why so blue, sis?"

Katara glared at him, before giving him a one-word answer: "Zuko."

Sokka rolled his eyes. "Honestly, I don't get what you're problem is. Zuko's a pretty nice guy. For a firebender, you know."

"He broke Aang's nose."

If she was expecting her brother to support her, she was wrong. "Good for him!"

She glared at him once more.

"Er, I mean, poor Aang." He said, without feeling. "Oh, come _on_, Katara, so Aang has a broken nose? So _what_. I've had plenty of broken noses, most of them from you."

She glared at him harder. "How _dare_ you compare me to Zuko?! We're nothing alike!"

Sokka shrugged. "If you say so."

He then got up and walked away.

Katara sulked.

Stupid, idiot brother. Comparing her to _Zuko_! Ha! As if! They were practically polar opposites!

…Except for that whole 'dead mother' thing in common. But, honestly, that was pure coincidence! How many other people had dead mothers? A lot, that's what.

…

…And yes, they were both temperamental.

Easily-angered.

Hormonal.

Violent.

Passionate.

_Oh spirits._ Katara thought suddenly. _It's like we have the same personality. We could be siblings or something._

For a brief moment, she entertained the notion that they were non-identical twins before remembering that Zuko was older than her.

For an even briefer moment, she considered that _Sokka_ and Zuko were twins before deciding that that was simply far too improbable to be true.

_Okay_, she decided finally. _We're __**probably**__ not siblings._

Then what?

_We're opposites. Opposites with compatible personalities. We're like, attractable opposites—OH GOD!_

Opposites.

Opposites _attracted_.

Attracted.

To _Zuko_.

Suddenly, all of Toph's dark laughter and snarky commentary made perfect sense:

She was attracted to Zuko. In spite of all of her desperate attempts to hate him, somehow he managed to sneak past all of her deep layers, and made her _like _him. The thought disgusted her.

She was disgusted with herself. Suddenly it all made sense. Why she had dreamed about (oh spirits the pain) _kissing_ him. Why she had touched his hand when he looked like he was going to be sick on Appa. Why she had hoped, so desperately, that the flowers in his hand had been for _her_.

Her eyebrow twitched. Inside, she felt her brain break just a little.

"I'm gonna need some help." She said finally, before resolving to find Toph as soon as she could.

XXX  
END

THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO ALL MY HOMIES AT CAPSLOCKATLA. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE.

ALSO, IT'S FOR DIETOTAKU, WHO WANTED A ZUTARA FIC IN WHICH KATARA'S BRAIN BROKE BECAUSE SHE REALIZED HOW SIMILAIR SHE AND ZUKO WERE.

AND GODDAMNIT, THIS MAY BE 12 CHAPTERS AFTER ALL.

Enjoy and review!

jak (who hopes to have this done by S3)


	9. Of Course

I've waited _ages_ to write this chapter. You better like it.

* * *

Zuko found her first, his fist full of flowers and his face staring at her as though he was a small child with his hand caught in the cookie jar.

"I'm _not_ falling for the same trick again." She told him sternly, though secretly prayed that, yes, those flowers were for her.

"Actually, they're for Aang." He said with complete seriousness. "I figured I owed him some since I kinda broke his nose."

Under his breath, he muttered _"Again."_

If Katara heard him, she didn't act like it. "Oh," She said quietly, and tried to hide her disappointment.

It didn't work.

Zuko noticed. "Um…you can have them, if you want."

She glared at him. "What makes you think I want your stupid flowers? They'll probably explode as soon as I touch them, anyway."

Zuko frowned. "That wasn't my fault. It was Aang's. He even admitted it."

She crossed her arms and huffed.

He handed the flowers to her.

"Take the flowers." He said sharply, mildly annoyed. "I _want _you to have them."

Bitterly defeated, she took the blasted flowers in her hand. Panda lilies, she thought softly, and sniffed them gently. Of course, they smelled heavenly, and made her just a bit suspicious.

"You were going to give Aang Panda Lilies?" She asked, an eyebrow raised.

He shrugged. "They were convenient."

"They grow in _volcanoes_."

"I like volcanoes." He said plainly. "I'm a firebender, remember?"

Of course.

Silence ensured.

…

"They're pretty." She said awkwardly, unsure of how to act around a Zuko she consciously knew she didn't hate.

He smiled warmly. "I thought you might like them."

A sudden thought occurred to her. "Wait a minute…why did you get me flowers in the first place?"

"To apologize," he began, his voice squeaking a bit. "For vomiting on your dress."

Of course. He was being his usual chivalrous self. He didn't _like_ her, he was just being nice.

"—And," he added, and her heart soared just a bit. "Because, well…"

"Yes?" she asked patiently.

He rubbed the back of his head anxiously. "You and I didn't start out on very good term. I know you're still angry about Bai Sing Sei—"

("And stealing my mother's necklace," she added cheekily in her mind, "And not trusting me to heal your Uncle. And I'm a bit miffed about the whole 'capture the Avatar' bit, too, you know.")

"—but, well," he sighed heavily, grabbing her arms to pull her closer. "I want a second chance. I want—to start over. I…I _like_ you, Katara, and I want…"

Quietly, he moved in closer. Subconsciously, she did as well. Suddenly her eyes were closed and she could feel his breath on her face and then---

Reality had to rear it's ugly head into things.

_Kissing Zuko's probably a bad thing_, she thought objectively. On the contrary, the action of kissing Zuko wouldn't be bad. In fact, she'd probably like it. And yet, what of the consequences? After all, he was fire. She was water. The two simply didn't mix. _Yes_, she was _attracted_ to him, but did that mean she had to kiss him?

I mean, good gods, what if she had _liked_ it? What if she—wanted to kiss him—_more_? What would happen then?

Could she really have a relationship with him? Would it ever work out? I mean, he was a _Prince_. If the war ended, he would be _Fire Lord_. That was a frightening thought in and of itself, but imagining herself in a _relationship_ with _Fire Lord Zuko_ was even more so.

In the deep part of her mind, she knew it would never last.

The Fire Nation would never accept her as Fire Lady. They could never marry, never 'court' openly, never have children.

She pulled back abruptly at the thought, tears threatening to spread. Out of instinct, she punched him in the gut.

"If you ever come near me again," she threatened, "I'll freeze your man-parts off."

She then froze him to a nearby tree and ran wildly in the opposite direction, hoping he hadn't seen her cry.

* * *

A/N: I've wanted to write this scene for a long time now. Also, for those of you wondering how Katara could have such deep thoughts when she's about to be kissed, I imagine that there's this five-minute-long pause in the middle there, the two of them with their eyes closed making fishy-faces at each other, both of them too sacred to actually make the move to kiss. Hence Katara's deep thinking. 


End file.
